PM10 and Other Climatic Variables Are Important Predictors of Seasonal Variability of Coccidioidomycosis in Arizona.

ABSTRACT: Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) is a disease caused by the fungal pathogens Coccidioides immitis and Coccidioides posadasii that are endemic to the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico and South America. Throughout the range where the pathogens are endemic, there are seasonal patterns of infection rates that are associated with certain climatic variables. Previous studies that looked at annual and monthly relationships of coccidioidomycosis and climate suggest that infection numbers are linked with precipitation and temperature fluctuations; however, these analytic methods may miss important nonlinear, nonmonotonic seasonal relationships between the response (Valley fever cases) and explanatory variables (climate) influencing disease outbreaks. To improve our current knowledge

SUBMITTER: Kollath DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9045372 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature